Sunday, February 11, 2018

House Passes Bill Seeking to Criminalize Assisted Suicide

Rep. Michael McKell
Jessica Miller, The Salt Lake Tribune  

The Utah House passed a bill Tuesday seeking to criminalize helping someone commit suicide — despite some concern from lawmakers that the bill could unintentionally target physicians or family members of terminally ill patients.

Rep. Michael McKell, R-Spanish Fork, has sponsored House Bill 86, which would amend Utah’s manslaughter statute to include assisted suicide. This means a person would be guilty of a second-degree felony — which is punishable by up to 15 years in prison — if prosecutors can prove he or she provided “the physical means” for someone to commit suicide.

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Assisting Suicide Should Have Legal Recourse

Tyerell Przybycien
Deseret News Editorial Board

Occasionally, someone commits a crime so heinous and disturbing it leads to demands for specific changes in law. Such is the case in Utah in the wake of the suicide of a 16-year-old girl and the efforts of a young man accused of helping, abetting and encouraging her.

A bill before the Utah Legislature would add assisted suicide to the state’s manslaughter statute. That is an appropriate measure that could give law enforcement authorities more prosecutorial leverage.

Saturday, December 30, 2017

Lawmaker proposes 'assisted suicide' law after teen allegedly helped girl kill herself

SALT LAKE CITY (KSTU) -- A state lawmaker is proposing a bill that would create a sort of "assisted suicide" law in response to the death of a Utah County girl and a man charged with murder.

Tyerell Przybycien is facing a murder charge in the death of 16-year-old Jchandra Brown. He is accused of purchasing supplies, goading the girl into taking her own life and taking video of the death.

Thursday, October 12, 2017

Teen accused of helping friend commit suicide could face trial for murder

Jchandra "Jelly" Brown
To see article and video, click here.

PROVO, Utah (KSTU) -- A judge will decide if a Spanish Fork man will face trial on a murder charge in the suicide of a 16-year-old girl.

Utah County prosecutors argue that Tyerell Przybycien's actions led Jchandra Brown to kill herself, and he should be tried for first-degree felony murder and a class B misdemeanor charge of failure to report a body. His defense lawyers argued that Brown was responsible for her own actions.

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Dore Memo Opposing Assisted Suicide Bill

To view a legal/policy memorandum opposing Utah's assisted suicide bill, click here and here. Key points include:
  • "Eligible" persons may have years, even decades, to live.  
  • The bill is stacked against the patient and a recipe for abuse.
  • "Using" the law can be traumatic for patients and their families.

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Press Release: Bill Will Allow "the Perfect Crime," Encourage People "to Throw Away Their Lives"

For print version, click here.

Salt Lake City, UT
 -- Attorney Margaret Dore, president of Choice is an Illusion, which has fought assisted suicide legalization efforts in many states, and now Utah, made the following statement in connection with a bill pending before the Utah Legislature.  (HB 264).

"The bill has an application process to obtain the lethal dose," said Dore. "The process includes a written lethal dose request form with two required witnesses.  One of the witnesses is allowed to be the patient's heir who will financially benefit from the patient's death."